Weird hi pitch noise from XPS M1210

There is a weird high pitched sound that comes from my M1210 whenever I plug it into the AC supply (No, It's not the fan)
It's not loud or anything to be irritating, but it is clearly discernible, and it seems to be coming from the top Left hand edge (the area below the Esc/Tilde Key)

The noise stays even when running on the battery but the intensity goes down to barely discernible levels

Could someone with a M1210 please let me know if they face this issue too, or is it just me who is facing this

 

You have 3 laptops? A bit off-topic

I've had an Averatec that produced some similar noise, it turned out that it was the voltage regulator that produced that hi-pitched noise. And supposedly, it was normal.

 

I have the 1210 and I had the same annoying beep. All I did was go to msconfig and disabled all the processes I dont use. After I did this I realized that the beep stopped! Totally random because I was doing this for better performance.

 

Ya, LOL...I 'm a bit of a suc ker when it comes to computers.....
and oh, BTW one of them is used almost fulltime by my fiancee

I haven't noticed this happening on any of my other machines...

Now Since thismachine is like 2 weeks old, I can still go ahead and ask Dell for a replacement but since the replacement could be a refurb, I am not too sure if I want to do that

Umm, actually I formatted and reinstalled windows...This isn't a beep..this is more of a whiny noise

 

could be a problem with the power adapter, those dell ones have a lot of problems...been through 3 of them on a few Latitudes in the last few years, but in this case, the noise was directly from the power adapter...try another one first, and see if the problem goes away

 

Ther is no noise at all from the power adapter...Nevertheless, Let me try out another adapter later today and see if that resolves the issue

 

I just got my new 1210, and I have the same high pitched squeel now. Im starting to loose some faith with Dell, I expected alot more from a notebook this expensive. Hopefully is just "break in" noises, but we'll see. Let me know if the adapter fixes it Abhi, because if it does ill unpack my old one and use that before I send it to dell.

 

That isn't right. Guys, let me know if this is a serious issue (perhaps in a certain batch of 1210s).

 

Yeah my first 1210 was great, I loved everything about it. After Tune Up Utilities 2006 Memoptmizer completley screwed every bit of memory on my system I got this new one. When I got it the hinge cover wasnt even on all the way. The media buttions on the front are also extreamly mushy, and actually hard to get to respond. And now this screech thats driving me crazy. My first 1210 was amazing, then I messed it up. Now im cursed with this bad apple, and I start college in 7 days. Thats not enough time to get another one. I guess my bad luck finally caught up with me, it was a good run while it lasted.

I fixed the hinge cover, and could likley fix the media buttions if I tooke the whole thing apart including the screen and palm rest. But this **** screech...I dont know what im going to do.

 

I called up Dell and blasted em out...
Anyway, they have a service engineer coming down today and I asked them to make sure he comes with a replacement Motherboard/adapter/LCD/Processor..In short everything it takes for them to fix it out today
(Dell India threw in free Gold support + Complete cover when I ordered the machine )

Since I am in India, I'll have the final update for you guys by Thursday evening my time, which is Thursday morning for you guys

Update: The service engineer called me up, and says the problem most likely is with the SMPS unit on the MoBo.
Though it is not a critical issue and more of an irritant, they will replace it anyway

Update: 6:00 PM India time
The Dell service guy came with a replacement motherboard to my office location
Unfortunately, all the conf rooms in my office were busy and we had no option but to go down to the car parking lot to try out the replacement in the car

No sooner had he opened the screws, it started raining thereby effectively leaving us in the dark

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the technician would becoming down on Saturday morning at my home to carry out the replacement

I kinda feel sorry for him right now

 

im wondering why you had "blasted em out"? Did they refuse to service your laptop? Did they offend your mother? Dell sounds like they are doing everything to make this right for you, so why go about it like that?

 

oh...for the simple reason that if i pay for a new laptop, i expect that Dell's QC would not be so lame as to let a defective machine go out to a customer who paid the full price for it and expects it to be defect free

Additionally, lamer questions like i if the laptop is on or if the green light on the power brick is glowing got my goat

oh, and BTW "blasted em out" was meant only for the smart alec phone supp fella, and definitely not for the nice gentleman who had come down to replace the moterboard...

 

It sounds like its a processor thing from my side. Everytime something loads quick the sound kinda hicups or changes a little bit. I dont know. I pulled Star Craft out of a dusty box and played it for about 3 hours, and I completly forgot about the noise. I really dont have time to get it fixed since I now start college in about 5 days. But if this is something that could become a problem instead of an annoyance, I might have to have Dell support drive 3 hours from the city to get to my college and fix it. Now I would feel sorry for that guy. 3 hours driving and only corn fields and cattle pastures on the road.

 

AFAIK, the sound is coming from one of the inductor coils on the DC-DC SMPS for the CPU.
The sound changes depending on the load because the SMPS steps up the voltage required by the CPU core
Also, this is more of an annoyance than any critical problem, though having said that, I'd have been willing to live with it on a heavily discounted Inspiron but not on a premium priced XPS

 

Dell Technician came down today morning and replaced the MoBo.
Problem resolved completely

 

Ok looks like I need to call Dell tech to get someone out here to fix my second 1210 and before wednesday. Thanks for give me a solution.

 

He's right. You sound like a whiny girl to me.

 

I would suggest doing that...Also, it seems that this problem exists on an entire batch of M1210 motherboards *
Ok looks like I need to call Dell tech to get someone out here to fix my second 1210 and before wednesday (which is what the technician visiting me said)

I am not sure if I got this right but here is the deal, when you pay the full price for a new laptop, you certainly do expect to get a well made and well tested machine.
Now if the machine isn't right in any particular way, be it a sticky keyboard, a bad LCD or a whiny motherboard for that matter, you'd not only expect it to be fixed , but would also feel let down in terms of the trust you placed on the company you are buying it from.

Additionally, the buyer would also have to spend several hours over the phone, and with the visiting technician to get the issue reolved, and that is not something anyone wants, more so if the buyer is working and is strapped for time anyway!

And on top of that, if the Support folks throw upon you a volley of the most inane questions, I am not very sure how many would be able keep their cool!


Anyway, I am thankful to dell that they did resolve the problem, yet I feel that there is no reason a defective machine should have passed Dell's Quality Control Dept.

 

how about this one: it's loud in their plant. they might not have heard it. is that possible?

 

LOL...now thats certainly a possibilty

 

I have this annoying high pitch noise too coming from my m1210 lately. I'm going to give Dell a call and see. Anyone have a fix for it so far?

dL

 

On a side note, a high pitched noise is common on laptops with Core Duo processers regardless of brand or model. There's a forum on here somewhere that explains exactly what on the processor is causing the noise.